Suspected shoplifter awaits unrelated trial on NHS bomb scare

A Norwalk boy reported as a runaway about two weeks ago, who also is accused of starting a school bomb scare, was apprehended last week on a warrant related to an April shoplifting incident.

The Norwalk Police Department arrested the 17-year-old Gallup Avenue boy on a Huron County Juvenile Court warrant Dec. 22 at a Whittlesey Avenue business and charged him with attempted robbery, a fourth-degree felony. Court administrator Chris Mushett said the warrant was issued because the boy failed to appear for a weekly intervention court hearing.

The suspect is accused of stealing a bottle of Mad Dog wine from a Norwalk business in April, Mushett said.

"He must have fled from the guy who attempted to apprehend him," he added.

The boy originally was charged with robbery, a third-degree felony, but the complaint was amended later to attempted robbery, a fourth-degree felony.

In mid-December, the boy fled from his home. After Friday's arrest and detention hearing, Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Cardwell ordered the suspect remain in the Sandusky County Juvenile Detention Center until his unrelated Jan. 5 trial on a Norwalk High School bomb scare, Mushett said.

The boy is charged with inducing panic, a fourth-degree felony, and making a false alarm, a fifth-degree felony, in connection with a Nov. 7 incident at the school.

Detective David McDonough, in his report, said he arrested the suspect after he admitted to sending the principal's office printer a message claiming a bomb would "go off in 20 minutes." The boy is accused of using a school computer at the time.

The school was not evacuated because Norwalk Schools Superintendent Wayne Babcanec, other school officials and police determined the message was a hoax. It's unknown if the boy was suspended from school.

The boy entered denials to the bomb scare charges during a Nov. 21 juvenile court hearing.